STEERING ROD LINK FAILURE, CENTURY/BRANSON

[DavesTractor]

MarEng, thank you for taking the time to write up the procedure. Your efforts will help many others. Well done. Dave

 

[Reg]

I have a joint that has worn itself sloppy in less than 65 hours.
GEE, even if I had never greased it (but I did) it should have lasted longer than that on the factory grease.

Anyway, it got me wondering about parts interchangeability;
I just "intuit" that rod ends are generic and that somewhere there is a car/truck rod end that fits my tractor.
Tractor designers almost certainly "shop" for parts like this from parts vendors.

So, anyone know how to cross ref this stuff through, say Allied ?

 

[Reg]

I went out to take it apart ready to drop by the local NAPA outlet tomorrow to see if they could match it up.
SURPRISE ! It wasn't the joint itself, but the tapered stem loose in the steering top plate.
The split pin was still in the castellated nut, looks like it was never tightened enough to pull it all the way in.
I tightened it up, but will check it soon to see if the tapered hole is worn out of round.
The taper on the ball joint stem looked OK, I just couldn't see up into the hole it goes into.

 

[Reg]

Having read the whole thread a few times I'm wondering what the real difference is between new and old top plates.
If the tie rod end is just an upsized part - is the new plate just one with an upsized tapered hole in it ?
I'm wondering if a machine shop could just bore and ream out the old plates cheaper than a new pair.

 

[BobQ]

Reg,

I like your idea, how would I find the taper on the new part? Then can I just order new tie rods? and if so what is the price of the new tie rods and or plates for comparison?

Thanks Bob

 

[Reg]

Reg,

I like your idea, how would I find the taper on the new part? Then can I just order new tie rods? and if so what is the price of the new tie rods and or plates for comparison?

Thanks Bob

Hi Bob,
I suppose I would knock one of the tie rod ends out and measure it...
Take the one off that has a right hand thread, take it down to the local hardware store and spend a few minutes trying to thread various sized bolts into it (no FORCING !), starting with the metric ones - there are probably only 4 likely ones, coarse and fine, standard and metric.
With that info in hand ask the NAPA guy what the next size up is on the stem end.
If they have specs for that, great - if not a half decent machinist should be able to measure it, bore your plates and (magically) put the right taper in them. I assume there is a set of standard tapers for this stuff.

Anyway, having thought about all that I called my Century (now Tym & Branson) dealer about it. He said the kit is just over $300, but the tie rod ends are about $120 EACH !
Which I thought exorbitant. If true the new plates are only ~$30 each so probably not worth getting machined. You might be able to get a better price on the ends only at your dealer.

I got as far as this with my Zetor parts search;
Zetor Tractor Parts Page
before realizing that the Century/Branson twins have female threaded tie rod ends.

 

[Zork]

If I remember correctly, the upper plates are substantially larger, as well as the overall makeup of the tie rod. I would not recommend enlargening the size of the plates because they can come under substantial stress during operation or the tractor can be operated at speeds on the road that are considered fast.

 

[Renze]

These are heavy tractors with high lift capacities, and let's face it, we use them hard. Even so, I'd like to see overkill in this area, perhaps twice the size and we would never see the failures.

They wanted to get Branson under Zetor name because they shared some basic philosophies with Zetor: heavy tractors with high lift capacities. However what the Korean made tractors dont share is the overkill: The steering joints in my 5245 are ony 2/3 the size of those on a 260 hp Deutz tractor... Its a 1986 and even though i use it like an industrial loader, no signs of wear on the steering balls.

The Zetor name on Kukje tractors only lasted untill Zetor took the N.A. marketing in their own hands...

 

[Reg]

If I remember correctly, the upper plates are substantially larger, as well as the overall makeup of the tie rod. I would not recommend enlargening the size of the plates because they can come under substantial stress during operation or the tractor can be operated at speeds on the road that are considered fast.

Maybe and maybe a drilled & reamed out top plate would be the next to go from overload once a bigger tie rod end is in there and that no longer breaks ?
So, what goes next, after the tie rod end and plate are beefed up.

 

[Zork]

Maybe and maybe a drilled & reamed out top plate would be the next to go from overload once a bigger tie rod end is in there and that no longer breaks ?
So, what goes next, after the tie rod end and plate are beefed up.

REG, I don't know, but I am happy with my tractor. Maybe the softness of the top plate/diameter of the tie rod stud causes this deterioration of the plate. In my opinion, there are many more brands out there that have a higher dollar to hour operational cost than my Branson 3520. On top of that, my own pre-purchase research showed me it would have cost me about $12k more for a comparable machine of another brand. Hope this helps.